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In order to answer the following questions, this
brochure is written and designed for educators
of Oklahoma’s 2013-2014 third-grade students.
 What does Oklahoma law say about require-ments for third -grade reading students and pro-motion to fourth grade?
 What will schools do to help if a student is
reading below grade level?
 What are the Six Good Cause Exemptions from Third Grade Retention?
SIX GOOD CAUSE EXEMPTIONS FROM
THIRD-GRADE RETENTION
Some third graders who score Unsatisfactory on the OCCT reading may be exempted from the retention requirement and be promoted to fourth grade. This is called a good-cause exemption. Good-cause exemptions are only given to the following students:
1 Be identified as Limited-English Proficient (LEP)/English Language Learner (ELL) on a screening tool approved by the Oklahoma State Department of Education Office of Bilingual/Migrant Education and have a Language Instruction Educational Plan (LIEP) in place prior to the administration of the third grade criterion refer-enced test; and the student must have had less than two (2) years of instruction in an English Language Learner (ELL) program.
2 Students with disabilities who are assessed with alternate achievement standards (AA- AAS) under the Oklahoma School Testing Program (OSTP) with the Oklahoma Alternative Assessment Program (OAAP) qualify for the good cause exemption. The student must be identified as needing special education services prior to the administration of the third grade criterion referenced test; The student must have an Individualized Education Pro-gram (IEP) in place prior to the administration of the third grade criterion referenced test and the student’s IEP must direct that the student is to be assessed with alternate achieve-ment standards through the Oklahoma Alternative Assess-ment Program (OAAP) based upon the OSDE Criteria Checklist for Assessing Students with Disabilities on State Assessments.
3 To promote a student using an alternative stand-ardized reading assessment, the following criteria shall apply: The student must score an acceptable level of performance on an approved alternative standardized reading assessment. The following are approved alternative standardized reading assessments that may be used to justify a good cause promotion. The listed score constitutes an ac-ceptable level of performance, and the student must score at or above the following percentiles:
 Stanford Achievement Test, Tenth Edition, (SAT 10)-45th Percentile
 Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) Complete Battery Form A,
C or E, Level 9, Reading Comprehension -45th Percentile
 Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) Core Battery, Form A, C, or E, Level 9, Reading Comprehension – 45th Percentile
 TerraNova, Third Edition Complete Battery Level 13, Reading– 45th Percentile
Alternative standardized reading assessments may only be ad-ministered following the administration of the Reading portion of the Grade 3 third grade criterion-referenced test. The spring test form of the exam shall be administered. An approved alter-native standardized reading assessment may be administered at any time prior to the start of the next academic year, if there are at least thirty calendar days between administrations and differ-ent test forms are administered.
4 To promote a student based on evidence from the Stu-dent Portfolio, the Student Portfolio shall include evi-dence demonstrating the student’s mastery of the Okla-homa state standards in reading equal to grade level performance on the Reading portion of third grade OCCT. Such evidence shall be documented through an organized collection of work representing the student’s mastery of such standards, including a demonstration of mastery of all of the following essential com-ponents of reading: Phonological Awareness, Phonics, Vocabu-lary, Automaticity/Fluency, Comprehension and Spelling/Writing. The student portfolio shall include clear evidence that the standards assessed by the Reading portion of the third grade OCCT have been met. Clear evidence must include multiple choice items and passages that are 50% literary text and 50% expository text that are between 200-600 words, with an average of 350 words. Such evidence could consist of: chapter or unit tests from the district’s adopted core reading curriculum that are aligned with the Oklahoma State Standards or Teacher-prepared assessments. Each standard and objective assessed by the Read-ing portion of the third grade OCCT must include a minimum of four work samples of mastery whereby the student attained a grade of 70% or above. Demonstrating mastery of each objective for each standard is required.
5 Students with disabilities who participate in the statewide criterion-referenced test and have an IEP may qualify for a good cause exemption. To qualify for this exemption, the student must meet the following criteria: The student must have been previously retained in kindergarten, first grade, second grade, or third grade. The student’s IEP must identify Reading as an area of education need for the stu-dent or identify some type of special education service in the area of Reading and reflect that the student has received inten-sive remediation for more than two years. Intensive remediation may include any type of program offering intensive reading instruction that is identified as appropriate by the IEP team.
6 Students who demonstrate a reading deficiency and have been previously retained may qualify for a good cause exemption. To qualify for this exemption, the student must meet the following criteria: The student must have been previously retained in kindergarten, first grade, second grade, or third grade for a total of two years and the student must have received intensive reading instruction for two or more years.
Reading Sufficiency Act
70 O.S. § 1210.508A 70 O.S.§ 1210.508B
70 O.S. § 1210.508C 70 O.S. § 1210.508D
70 O.S. § 1210.508E
OAC 210-15-27
Available Resources
http://ok.gov/sde/
For more information, contact:
Office of Instruction Literacy Team
rsa@sde.ok.gov
Educator’s Pocket Reference
Oklahoma’s
Third Grade Graduation Law
2013-2014

In order to answer the following questions, this
brochure is written and designed for educators
of Oklahoma’s 2013-2014 third-grade students.
 What does Oklahoma law say about require-ments for third -grade reading students and pro-motion to fourth grade?
 What will schools do to help if a student is
reading below grade level?
 What are the Six Good Cause Exemptions from Third Grade Retention?
SIX GOOD CAUSE EXEMPTIONS FROM
THIRD-GRADE RETENTION
Some third graders who score Unsatisfactory on the OCCT reading may be exempted from the retention requirement and be promoted to fourth grade. This is called a good-cause exemption. Good-cause exemptions are only given to the following students:
1 Be identified as Limited-English Proficient (LEP)/English Language Learner (ELL) on a screening tool approved by the Oklahoma State Department of Education Office of Bilingual/Migrant Education and have a Language Instruction Educational Plan (LIEP) in place prior to the administration of the third grade criterion refer-enced test; and the student must have had less than two (2) years of instruction in an English Language Learner (ELL) program.
2 Students with disabilities who are assessed with alternate achievement standards (AA- AAS) under the Oklahoma School Testing Program (OSTP) with the Oklahoma Alternative Assessment Program (OAAP) qualify for the good cause exemption. The student must be identified as needing special education services prior to the administration of the third grade criterion referenced test; The student must have an Individualized Education Pro-gram (IEP) in place prior to the administration of the third grade criterion referenced test and the student’s IEP must direct that the student is to be assessed with alternate achieve-ment standards through the Oklahoma Alternative Assess-ment Program (OAAP) based upon the OSDE Criteria Checklist for Assessing Students with Disabilities on State Assessments.
3 To promote a student using an alternative stand-ardized reading assessment, the following criteria shall apply: The student must score an acceptable level of performance on an approved alternative standardized reading assessment. The following are approved alternative standardized reading assessments that may be used to justify a good cause promotion. The listed score constitutes an ac-ceptable level of performance, and the student must score at or above the following percentiles:
 Stanford Achievement Test, Tenth Edition, (SAT 10)-45th Percentile
 Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) Complete Battery Form A,
C or E, Level 9, Reading Comprehension -45th Percentile
 Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) Core Battery, Form A, C, or E, Level 9, Reading Comprehension – 45th Percentile
 TerraNova, Third Edition Complete Battery Level 13, Reading– 45th Percentile
Alternative standardized reading assessments may only be ad-ministered following the administration of the Reading portion of the Grade 3 third grade criterion-referenced test. The spring test form of the exam shall be administered. An approved alter-native standardized reading assessment may be administered at any time prior to the start of the next academic year, if there are at least thirty calendar days between administrations and differ-ent test forms are administered.
4 To promote a student based on evidence from the Stu-dent Portfolio, the Student Portfolio shall include evi-dence demonstrating the student’s mastery of the Okla-homa state standards in reading equal to grade level performance on the Reading portion of third grade OCCT. Such evidence shall be documented through an organized collection of work representing the student’s mastery of such standards, including a demonstration of mastery of all of the following essential com-ponents of reading: Phonological Awareness, Phonics, Vocabu-lary, Automaticity/Fluency, Comprehension and Spelling/Writing. The student portfolio shall include clear evidence that the standards assessed by the Reading portion of the third grade OCCT have been met. Clear evidence must include multiple choice items and passages that are 50% literary text and 50% expository text that are between 200-600 words, with an average of 350 words. Such evidence could consist of: chapter or unit tests from the district’s adopted core reading curriculum that are aligned with the Oklahoma State Standards or Teacher-prepared assessments. Each standard and objective assessed by the Read-ing portion of the third grade OCCT must include a minimum of four work samples of mastery whereby the student attained a grade of 70% or above. Demonstrating mastery of each objective for each standard is required.
5 Students with disabilities who participate in the statewide criterion-referenced test and have an IEP may qualify for a good cause exemption. To qualify for this exemption, the student must meet the following criteria: The student must have been previously retained in kindergarten, first grade, second grade, or third grade. The student’s IEP must identify Reading as an area of education need for the stu-dent or identify some type of special education service in the area of Reading and reflect that the student has received inten-sive remediation for more than two years. Intensive remediation may include any type of program offering intensive reading instruction that is identified as appropriate by the IEP team.
6 Students who demonstrate a reading deficiency and have been previously retained may qualify for a good cause exemption. To qualify for this exemption, the student must meet the following criteria: The student must have been previously retained in kindergarten, first grade, second grade, or third grade for a total of two years and the student must have received intensive reading instruction for two or more years.
Reading Sufficiency Act
70 O.S. § 1210.508A 70 O.S.§ 1210.508B
70 O.S. § 1210.508C 70 O.S. § 1210.508D
70 O.S. § 1210.508E
OAC 210-15-27
Available Resources
http://ok.gov/sde/
For more information, contact:
Office of Instruction Literacy Team
rsa@sde.ok.gov
Educator’s Pocket Reference
Oklahoma’s
Third Grade Graduation Law
2013-2014